


Means to an End

by Venivincere



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-01 22:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2790704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venivincere/pseuds/Venivincere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryoma contemplates the differences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Means to an End

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic in PoT fandom. Marksykins made it a moral imperative that I write this, so in turn I enlisted her superior beta skills. Thank you, Marks! 
> 
> Posted to Skyehawke on January 18, 2006 here: http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=11432

By the time Ryoma comes to Seigaku, tennis is merely a means to an end. He has already won in the U.S. four times, and that's where the game is played the best. When he joins the Seigaku team, he does not think of regionals. He does not think of nationals, or the world. He thinks of playing Nanjiroh in the cool, damp morning and playing Nanjiroh in the fragrant evening, and he thinks of his perpetual reward: "Made, made dane" and a smirk.  
  
Ryoma knows he will beat his opponents here, and that he will rise to the top of his team by playing each one once. He doesn't bother to reign in his tongue, because he is better than everyone even if they don't know it yet. None of them have trained with Nanjiroh. And even though Nanjiroh has not taken the game seriously in years, and even though Ryoma has played and won against the best the U.S. has to offer in his age class, Nanjiroh is still the toughest opponent Ryoma has ever had.  
  
Ryoma will beat Nanjiroh someday.  
  
Between the time the cherry blossoms begin to bloom and the time the last of the petals rain down on the courts and drift into the corners, Ryoma beats every one he's finished a match with: Momochan-sempai and Kaido, Eiji and Inui, some of the younger ones, too, and it is as easy to do as he thought. Really, they aren't so bad. Ryoma is certain they will improve, but there are no surprises, and no real challenges, either. Still, he goes home to Nanjiroh and believes  _someday I will beat you, old man_.  
  
Ryoma plays Tezuka for the first time, and for the first time at Seigaku, loses a match. He wakes up and realizes he has been chasing a ball that will land outside the line, and that perhaps it is time to stop and wait for the next serve. He sits on his knees on the court beneath the underpass, bows his head, and says for the first time "Buchou...", savors the word as though it were a tuna roll from Kawamura-san's sushi shop. But it sustains him better than food.  
  
Ryoma respects Tezuka because Tezuka plays seriously with him. Nanjiroh doesn't, and never has. On the longest day of the summer as the sun dips low and sprays the clouds orange, Nanjiroh laughs. Ryoma grips his racquet tighter and says "play me seriously."  
  
Nanjiroh says "Made, made dane."  
  
That night in bed, Ryoma thinks about the differences between Nanjiroh and Tezuka. Tezuka respects Ryoma's mistakes just as much as his successes. His father does not. Nanjiroh trains Ryoma because he was once the best tennis player in the world. He trains Ryoma as an experiment, to see if the son can surpass the skill of the father. Nanjiroh wants Ryoma to be his own personal opponent and risks nothing for it. Tezuka wants Ryoma to be the next pillar of support for the team, and risks everything for it.  
  
The next day, Ryoma says "Buchou, thank you." Tezuka bows.  
  
Tezuka plays the hardest game of his life with Atobe in the first round of the Kantou regionals and loses, passes the torch to Ryoma. Ryoma walks with him afterward back to the train, and says "Buchou, your shoulder...."  
  
Tezuka says nothing, but looks him in the eye until Ryoma has to look away.  
  
He says "Buchou..." again, but it comes out choked. Tezuka says nothing about the dark spots that appear on the collar of Ryoma's jersey, but offers Ryoma a right-handed practice match the next day after evening practice. It becomes a habit.  
  
Ryoma knows the exact moment his father begins to play him seriously because he wears shoes on the court behind the temple. Ryoma wins one game from him, but loses the match. After the game he bows and says "Otousan," but Nanjiroh merely smirks and kicks off his shoes.  
  
That night in bed, Ryoma slings an arm around Karupin and thinks he will still beat Nanjiroh someday. But he begins to think that maybe it will not mean as much without Nanjiroh's respect.  
  
He doesn't return to the court behind the temple for three days.  
  
The first time Ryoma beats Tezuka right-handed he says "someday, I will beat you on the left."  
  
Tezuka smiles, and says "Maybe after nationals."  
  
Ryoma thinks about his relationship with Tezuka and begins to think that there is more at stake than mere allegiances. He thinks that maybe Tezuka is his North Star. Ryoma lets him shine as brightly in his nights as he does in his days.  
  
The day Seigaku wins the Kantou regional, Ryoma high-fives his Buchou. His hand doesn't make it back to his side, but Tezuka does.  
  
Tezuka doesn't let go.  
  
Tennis is still a means to an end, though the end may now be winning the nationals, but Ryoma thinks that perhaps he has won something more precious and lasting than any title.  
  
 **~fin~**


End file.
